RICK WARE RACING
Cracker Barrel 400
Date: May 31, 2026
Event: Cracker Barrel 400 (Round 14 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway (1.33-mile, concrete oval)
Format: 300 laps, broken into three stages (90 laps/95 laps/115 laps)
Race Winner: Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing (Toyota)
Stage 1 Winner: AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Daniel Suárez of Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet)
RWR Finish:
● Cody Ware (Started 34th, Finished 22nd / Running, completed 299 of 300 laps)
RWR Points:
● Cody Ware (35th with 117 points)
RWR Notes:
● Ware earned his fourth top-25 of the season and his first top-25 in three career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Nashville.
● Ware’s 22nd-place result bettered his previous best finish at Nashville – 27th, earned in 2022.
Race Notes:
● Denny Hamlin won the Cracker Barrel 400 to score his 62nd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his second of the season and his first at Nashville. His margin over second-place Christopher Bell was .115 of a second.
● There were 11 caution periods for a total of 77 laps.
● Only 15 of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
● Tyler Reddick remains the championship leader after Nashville with a 97-point advantage over second-place Hamlin.
Sound Bites:
“Tonight was just a good night for the race team. Really, that was all thanks to the hard work the guys did that kept us in the hunt all night. We stayed on the lead lap for 80 percent of the race and made good adjustments. Felt like we worked together really well. It’s definitely a really positive day that I feel like we can build off of going to three or four races here over the month of June that we’re looking forward to. So I’m proud of that and looking forward to get going.” – Cody Ware, driver of the No. 51 Jacob Construction Chevrolet
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, June 7 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by Prime Video and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
